Wheely

Ok, so all user reviews are in the extreme negative, & some lazy journalism has the description as a complete rip-off of Cars.

Actually, it's not. Yes, main character Wheely is a racing car, & a bit cocky, & his eventual sidekick, Putt Putt (who IS very annoying), is a tad Mater-esque, but the storyline is not the same in the slightest.

Wheely is a cocky racing car, but has his career ended by an accident. With no parts available to properly repair his damage, he becomes a taxi. Down on his luck, being targeted by a dumb cop car, he seems to finally catch a break when meets the car/girl of his dreams. However, she gets targeted by an evil truck who runs a luxury car-napping organisation, & some little element of fun ensues as he attempts to get her back.

The character design is not a rip-off of Cars, as some have stated. The faces/eye positions are different, & designs are more exaggerated than the realistic armory of Pixar automobiles. These actually reminded me more of the cars in the Roary The Racing Car series.

The main issues for me are the voices & some of the animation. Vocally, Wheely & Putt Putt & the cop are very annoying, & others are way over the top/over exaggerated.

Animation-wise some of the art is actually not bad in places, not quite Pixar/Dreamworks standard, but not as bad as described.

There are certainly some deficiencies, but not everyone has Disney level financial backing. The lack of background activity, once noticed, is where you notice that they have cut corners, & for some reason, makes scenes feel slow & labored(along with that voice acting again), & some scenes look unfinished.

Some characters & scenes are scarier than the G rating this has, & a few darker moments would take this to a mild PG for me.

I've seen this a few times more than I would've liked, as my lil boy is a car nut, & loves most movies/series with 4 wheeled vehicles, but I don't think this quite deserves the level of abuse it has.

Others should check out the 'Cars Life' series for the epitome of animation awfulness (or not).